DETROIT, MI — Detroit Mayor Dave Bing, citing his authority under the city charter, has ordered Corporation Counsel Krystal Crittendon to withdraw a lawsuit challenging the legality of a recent consent agreement with the state.

"By taking this action, you have exceed your authority under the charter and have put the city's financial stability at substantial risk of serious financial consequences," Bing told Crittendon in a letter dated June 11 (pdf).

The Michigan Treasury said last week that the suit may jeopardize $80 million in revenue sharing payments, which Bing said will result in the city running out of cash by Friday.

Crittendon, who argues the state owes Detroit hundreds of millions in promised revenue sharing and unpaid bills, filed her suit last month in Ingham County Circuit Court, where Judge William Collette is expected to hold a hearing tomorrow morning.

But Bing may intervene before that happens, according to the Detroit Free Press. Citing anonymous sources with knowledge of the situation, the newspaper reports Bing has hired Miller Canfield and directed the private law firm to stop Crittendon tomorrow in court.

The mayor hinted at such action in his letter.

"Since I disagree with your position, I have been forced to consult with outside legal experts in this matter in order to execute my duties, as authorized by the charter," he wrote.

"Since under the ethics rules you are not able to adequately represent my office on the subject of your opinion, it is necessary that I retain outside counsel in order to obtain independent advice."

Detroit's new charter (pdf) empowers Crittendon to enforce compliance with the document, which mimics state law in that it forbids the city from entering into a contract with a debtor.

But Bing argued in his letter that the State of Michigan is not subject to the charter, which means Crittendon should not have bought judicial action against the state unless he directed her to do so.

Tomorrow's hearing before Judge Collette is scheduled for 10 a.m. MLive will be there, and so will a group of Detroit protestors expected to make the trip by bus.